Supervisory mechanism



UNITED STATES PATENT FFCE.

ELLS C. HEALEY, O EAST ORANGE.

PANY, INC., 0F NEW Y@ I,

Application file To all whom if may concern:

Be it known that l, fmms llniinr, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Grange, in the county oit Essex and State ol3 leiv Jersey, have invented certain nenv ipervisory 'fulh ing is component part olf-practically every mechanical equipment in general se. Under certain conditions it is essential that they should remain open or remain closed at all times except for melting repairs extensions or 'for other recognized purposes; and it is a well recognized fact t loss or lite and great damage has resulted through oversight or design in permitting valves to remain closed when their normal position should be open, and vice versa.

'lhc invention vliich constitutes the subi ject matter ot this application relates to supervisory mechanism, specifically described in connection with sprinlrler syste-ms. The use ot automatic sprinkler systems is coming more and more into vogue, out lilie all other systems of `Water distribution the valves at times mustV necessarily7 be closed temporarily in order to effect repairs, to prevent freezing, and for many other purposes. There has been and is s. tendency on the part ot workmen to leave one or more of the valves closed, thereby putting; apart or the Whole of the system completelyout oil commission with a result of considerable losses in cases of tire.

My invention therefore has to do with a .fluid pressure mechanism adapted to be connec'ted to a valve forl controlling the access to a recording `key located adjacent thereto.

' That is to say whenthe valve is open, as it normally should be, access may be had to the key.7 but it the valve is closed'the key is not available. As each one ot these valves (or stations) is equipped with a key a time print may be made on a record dial of a .vatchmans clock which would indicate the time at which the station Was visited. So long as these imprintsl are made at the required intervals, as shown by the record dial, it is a sure indication that the valves at those particular times Were opened. But it the imprint of a certain station ivere omitted trom the record dial itV ivould be an equally Patented Feb. 2S, 1922.

Serial Elo. 30,247.

sure indication that the hey at that station was inaccessible and tnereliore the valve was closed. 'Or' course it it is a part of the Watchmaiis luty to open the valve he could then f imprint. ln any event the device 1fried its purpose.

ice-ture olf my invention consists g a device oir the kind described by which desired valve. or eran ple, all the lrey bones controlled by the v the same poi of the records.

nce

arious valves may be located nt., tiereby facilitating the to the drawing in detail, Figs. l and 2 illustrate e side vieiv of the preL 'i'crred embodiment oi niy invention, parts being; in section to show the interior conn. L. ano. il 1g. 3 is a section taken at 'les o rig. s. ine reierence nudesiorate the vvater supply to the l iY con'iing;` from any suitable pipe (not shown). Locator, in thisl supply is a alve ll provided with a yolte l2, a threaded o rotatably mounted in the yol a stem i4- screw-threaded to the sleeve. manipulating handle l5 fixed to the 123 and adapted to rotate the same in r to impart lonqitudinal movement to valve-stem lei and the gate valve (not "n) attached thereto.

le mechanism just described is old and well known anc malte no claim thereto, ex-

i as constitutes or is an elementof the 1 in inoriniity to the valve just de` the controlling mechanism which a pipe or tubular member 1G, serewthreaded or otherwise connected to the supply lt? on the one hand and to the case l? ou the other, and this pipe, in conjunction with the passages 18 and 19 in said casing, establish-es a connection between said supply it) and the chamber Q0. Sepainting` the passages 1S and l) is a valve 2i held normally closed by means ot the spring enrircliug the stem and Within the chamber 2O is a plunger normally held in the position illustrated by means ot the springl surroundingthe stem Q6 upon the outer end ot which is a rock 27 screivthreaded or otherwise attached thereto. Connecting the passage 19 with the exterior are one or more bleed ports F28 apted to be closed bv means ot a valve Q9, n

provided with a stein llO 30 and spring 31. Pivo-ted at 32 to a bracket is a lever one arm of which is adapted to enga-ge the outer end of th stem 23 and the other arm 35 of which is adapted to engage the outer end of the stem 30.

Also pivoted at 36 to the brarket 33 is a bell crank lever one arm 237 of which is adapted to bear against arm 34 of lever 34-35 and the other arm 3S of which is provided with an antifriction roller 4.0 normally engaging` in a recess 4l cut in the valve stem 14. It will, therefore, be obvious that if the stein fla-iis moved in a direction 'to close the Avalve attached thereto a countenclock wise movement will lic imparted to the lever rl`his will also result in imparting a count r-clock wisc movement to the arm thereby positively opening the valve 2l and permittingl the valve Q9 to close. This operation establishes a connection between the pipe l0 and chamber 2O with a result that the plunger 24 is depressed, that is moved to the left against the tension of the spring 25.

It may be stated at this point that when the valve stem 14 is moved beck to normal position the valve 2l will be closed and the valve opened under the tension of the spring 22, and that when the valve Q9 is opened the tension of the spring Q5 is sulli cient, among other things7 to force the water out of the chamber 20 to return the plunger 24, stem 26 and rack Q7 to normal position.

At 42 isillustrated a receptacle provided with two compartments 43 and 44. In compartment there is provided a shaft 45 rotatably `iournalled vtherein and actuated by the rack 2T by means of the pinion 4G, in mesh with said rack, and the flexible shaft 47 one end of said flexible shaft being connected to said pinion and the other end of which is connected to the shaft 45. Fixed to the shaft 45 is a gear 48 which meshes with a pinion 49 located on the shaftO of the key-drum 5l. Attached to the periphery of the drum 5l is a key chain to which is secured a key 53. The key chain extends downwardly through the perforation 54 in .the partition 55 into the key compartment 44.

The key compartment is provided with a door 56 provided with a catch 57. Located also upon the shaft 45 is a drum 5S provided with a cam slot 59 adapted to actuate the lock 60, in the partition 55, to engage the catch 57.

In the normal position of the parts as illustrated therchain is unwound and the watchman in making his rounds has access to the key in compartment If the valve l1 is now moved towards its closed position the fluid pressure mechanism is set into operati` n. the any chain wound up around the drum and the key moved to the position illustrated in dotted lines in Figure and in full lines in Figure 3, and in this position there is not enough slack in the chain to enable the watchman to make a record on the record dial. The door should be closed at all times except when the watchman is making his visit, and if closed, as it should be. it will be locked simultaneously with the winding up of the chain.

F rom the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a simple mechanism actuated by the pressure in the pipe 10 to prevent the watchman from ina-king a record while visiting that particular station, providingthe valve is not in proper position. ln operation the supervisor visits each valve equipped with my invention and if the valve is found to be closed or open as the particular system requires, it is then possible for him to obtain the key in order to make a registration upon his watchmans clock, which is indisputable eidence that the valve was at that time and place in normal position. If, however, the supervisor should be unable to obtain the key he wouhl then know that the valve is not in. its normal position, and he would thus be unable to etfect the registration until the valve had heen restored to normal position. And if the dial on the watchmans clock does not show a registration covering all the valves which he is required to supervise it could he readily determined which valve or valves he ha d found not to bein normal position.

In certain of the claims I employ the expression translating device. By translating device I mean a device or instrument whereby one form of energy is converted into another. In the present application a translating device for converting fluid pressure to mechanical motion, is disclosed. In short, I employ the expression in the sense within the following definition found in Kuights Mechanical Dictionary: Translator-An instrument whereby one form of energy is converted into another.

As before stated, the construction illustrated and described is merely one of the preferred embodiments and it is to be understood that I do not limit myself thereto as it is obvious not only that many changes may be made in point of detail but that other embodiments may be resorted to without departing from the true spirit and scope of my invention as defined in the following claims.

What I claim is: l i

l. A supervisory mechanism for a sprinkler system comprising a supply, a valve in said supply, and a container for a Watchmans key, in` combination with a fluid pressure means set by the actuation. of said valve for controlling the access to said key.

2. A supervisory mechanism for a sprinlzlcr system comprising a supply for the sprinkler, a valve adapted to shut off said supply, securing means for a Watchmans key, in combination With a fluid pressure mechanism set by the actuation of said valve, and means operated by said pressure mechanism to render said key inaccessible for making a record.

3. The combination with a normally open valve, of a container for a Watchmans key, said key being normally accessible, means in said container for rendering said key inaccessible, and fluid pressure means adapted to 'actuate the aforesaid means When the valve is moved towards its closed position.

fl. The combination ,with a normally open valve, or' a recording means normally opera tive for making a record, means for renderi ing said recording means inoperative, and fluid pressure means adapted to actuate the aforesaid means When the valve is moved towards its closed position.

5. The combination With a normally open valve, of a recording means normally operative for making a record, means for rendering said recording means inoperative, and a Huid pressure means adapted to actuate the aforesaid means When the valve is moved towards its closed position but adapted to return said recording means to operative position when the valve is brought back to normal.

6. In combination, a normally open valve, a translating device controlled thereby, a manually operable indication-producing means, and means controlled by said translating device for preventing manual operation of said irst mentioned means When said valve is in abnormal position.

7 In combination, a valve, a recording device, a translating device controlled by said valve, and means including said translating device for preventing operation of said recording device unless said valve is in a predetermined condition.

8. In combination, a valve, a translating device controlled thereby, a Watchmans key, and means including said translating device for preventing access to said key unless said valve is in a predetermined condition.

9. A supervisory mechanism for a sprinkler system comprising a fluid supply pipe, a manually operable indication-producing means, a pressure-responsive device connect ed to said pipe, and means comprising said device for preventing manual operation ot' said first named means when said system is in an abnormal condition.

l0. A supervisory mechanism for a sprinkler system comprising a luid supply pipe, a supply-control valve therein, a manually operable indication-producing means, a pressure responsive device connected to said pipe and controlled by said valve, and means comprising said device for preventing manual operation of said irst named means when said valve is in an abnormal position.

11. A supervisory mechanism as set forth in claim 9 in which the indication-producing means is a Watchmans key.

12. A supervisory mechanism as set forth in claim 10 in which the indication-producing means is a Watchmans key.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

ELLIS C. HEALY. 

